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When entering York Theatre Royal, the audience was swiftly ushered outside and into the room where A Clockwork Orange was ready to start. The haziness of the theatre made it difficult to even find empty seats; a task made even more intimidating by the actors milling around the entrance menacing the newcomers.
Once under way the first twenty minutes included superbly choreographed, and expertly executed, fight sequences blended with brief excerpts of the story by lead protagonist Alex. Extracts, incidentally, that did not introduce characters or contexts, but witty paradigms of the language and conversations used in A Clockwork Orange. If you did not know the story, however, this opening could have left you confused and somewhat overwhelmed. It assumed knowledge of the plot.
This introduction was not ineffective. It showed the chaos and anarchy of Alex’s world, followed by his Droogs. The dialogue, moreover, was secondary to the immensely impressive action sequences. The story, which includes murder, “ultra-violence” and rape, was not diluted in this performance. On such a minimalist stage, the achievements of the group to create different settings and events (the actors even made up the sets using themselves) were made all the more admirable.
The play was a truly unique interpretation of a unique story. Although plot and context were sometimes overshadowed by the exhausting choreography, two scenes in this production were quite simply stunning. The scene of Alex’s ‘treatment’ and conditioning rivalled the impact of the same scene in Stanley Kubrick’s film: with horrific images projected on the back wall accompanied by Beethoven’s penetrative Ninth Symphony ringing in our ears. The second, with the same composition, was when Alex was at the peak of his lunacy: composing the music while fighting the illness that listening to the piece inflicts upon him.
On such a minimalist stage, the achievements of the group to create different settings and events were made all the more admirable.
The second half of the production was more focused with plot and dialogue: following Alex’s arrest, time in prison, treatment and release back in to society. This gave the actors more opportunity to fit into their roles, of which each actor had more than one. The entire cast, as well as physical abilities, expressed great understanding of the script allowing for humour to creep in to the darkest of corners.
Belt Up presented an interesting take on a story that has numerous interpretations, but with subject matter that needs careful consideration. It's not a comfortable viewing experience but an entertaining one; culminating in the audience being steered outside by the cast where the final scene was offered.
The only shame about this idea: hurling A Clockwork Orange back into the real world was that many missed the dialogue of the ending. It did not, however, ruin the impact of such an intense performance.
Judging from the rest of the article surely the blurb should read 'no noticable drop IN the intensity' rather than 'no noticable drop OF the intensity?'
To be honest I thought it was quite boring; you could tell that actors were quite talented, and I could see what the production was trying to do, but I found myself looking for the point. I think that theatre is at its best when it manages to immerse its audience without having to resort to shock or radicalism for its own sake. Have the confidence to put on something with some depth Belt Up (nothing to see/hear).
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